Biology Department, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.
Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Los Andes, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.
PLoS One. 2024 Mar 13;19(3):e0299645. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299645. eCollection 2024.
Monodominant tree communities can have phenotypic trait variation (intraspecific variation) as extreme as the trait variation across a forest with higher species diversity. An example of such forests is those composed of Quercus, an important genus of woody angiosperms in the montane neotropical forest. The Andean oak, or Quercus humboldtii Bonpl., is the sole member of this genus in South America and a characteristic component of montane ecosystems. Although there are several studies on the ecology and genetic structure of this species, there are few studies on the functional trait diversity among populations. Understanding functional traits can improve our comprehension of how organisms respond to various environmental conditions. In this study, we aimed to evaluate differences in six functional traits in individuals of the Andean oak, in two ontogenetic stages (juveniles and adults) from three populations with contrasting environmental conditions. Additionally, using T-statistics, we assessed the impact of external filters (e.g., climate, resource availability, large-scale biotic interactions) on population assembly. We found a remarkable level of functional differentiation among Andean oak forests, with all traits differing between populations and five traits differing between ontogenetic stages. External filters had a stronger influence in populations with more extreme environmental conditions. These findings emphasize the dynamic and context-dependent nature of functional traits in this species. However, given the limited exploration of functional diversity in Andean oak populations, further studies are needed to inform conservation efforts.
单优种群落的表型特征变异（种内变异）可以与物种多样性更高的森林中的特征变异一样极端。这样的森林的一个例子是由 Quercus 组成的森林，Quercus 是山地新热带森林中木本被子植物的一个重要属。安第斯山栎，或 Quercus humboldtii Bonpl.，是南美洲该属的唯一成员，也是山地生态系统的典型组成部分。尽管有几项关于该物种生态学和遗传结构的研究，但关于种群间功能性状多样性的研究很少。了解功能特征可以提高我们对生物如何响应各种环境条件的理解。在这项研究中，我们旨在评估来自三个具有不同环境条件的种群的两个不同发育阶段（幼树和成年树）的安第斯山栎个体的六个功能特征之间的差异。此外，我们使用 T 统计量评估了外部过滤器（例如气候、资源可用性、大尺度生物相互作用）对种群组装的影响。我们发现安第斯山栎森林之间存在显著的功能分化水平，所有特征在种群之间存在差异，五个特征在发育阶段之间存在差异。外部过滤器对环境条件更为极端的种群的影响更大。这些发现强调了该物种功能特征的动态和依赖于上下文的性质。然而，鉴于对安第斯山栎种群功能多样性的有限探索，需要进一步的研究来为保护工作提供信息。
